Hi 👋🏻 Would love some help with our new baby

[Sineadsq]

Hi everyone

We got a baby horsfield tortoise in June, all was well with him and eating just fine until about 6-8 weeks ago. I noticed one of his eyes looked a little different. I kept an eye on it for a few days and after doing some research realised that it was almost definitely his third eyelid that wasn’t opening properly. It wasn't junky and didn’t have anything in it. So I made sure I was bathing him daily (previous to this we were only bathing every other day) to take sure he wasn’t dehydrated. Over the next week some days his eye would look ok other says it would like as though it wasn’t opening again. I ended up taking him to the shop where we purchased him from. They looked over him and said everything looked ok. Since his eye has looked funny I have also noticed he doesn’t eat much at all. It was always hard to tell how much he was actually eating as I was probably putting too much in his cage and then it would dry up and was hard to tell what had been eaten or not. The other thing is that he just wasn’t pooing (Which would obviously suggest he wasn’t eating either) after a bit of back and forth with the pet shop and desperately trying to get a vet appointment (with no luck, nowhere will see new clients or a tortoise!!) we’ve ended up taking to the pet shop so they could observe him for a few days. I have rang today and they have said they have seen him eat and are quite happy he’s fine and can come home. I’m just so worried something still isn’t right and without seeing a vet I’m not sure what to do. Im sorry for the first very lengthy message I’m just hoping someone maybe able to help me and any advise is most welcome! Thank you so much 😊

 

[Tom]

The most likely problems are:
1. Wrong temperatures.
2. Wrong substrate.
3. Wrong lighting.

In your country, the pet shops almost always get all three wrong. Correct the problem, and the symptom (the bad eye) should go away in time.

Also, vets don't know tortoise care and often misdiagnose, and do more harm than good.

Here is the correct care info. Read through this whole thing a couple of times, and I bet you will see your problem. Questions are welcome.

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[wellington]

Follow Tom's advice and things should get better.
In the mean time we can't help much without a pic of him, the enclosure and a run down of everything included in his care.
Temps, day, night, all over and basking.
Diet
Humidity
Substrate
And anything else you do or have for him.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

The few times I've experienced reptile eye issues, it stemmed from artificial UVB lighting. Are you using any of those coil type bulbs? If you have a tube UVB light, perhaps it's too close?

It starts with the eye issues, followed by loss of appetite and without correction has led to death.

If you do have any of that lighting on him, let us know. We will help you correct it best we can.

 

[Sineadsq]

Hi. Thank you so much for all your replies the first thing I’m going to is change the substrate, I’ve come to my local garden centre to get orchid bark and they only orchid compost? Is this ok? It would seem as though this may have some sort of food in it too?

 

[Sineadsq]

I will send some photos of everything later thanks again

 

[Tom]

Hi. Thank you so much for all your replies the first thing I’m going to is change the substrate, I’ve come to my local garden centre to get orchid bark and they only orchid compost? Is this ok? It would seem as though this may have some sort of food in it too?

Not okay. You need plain fine grade fir bark with no additives.

 

[LJL1982]

I will send some photos of everything later thanks again

I use this stuff, comes in fine and is available next day Amazon Prime.

Komodo Forest Terrain Reptile Bark Substrate Snake Vivarium Flooring 6L 12L 24L | eBay

This substrate is great for Simple maintenance is required for this Forest Terrain, is it important for a daily spot clean to be taken place and whilst this is done you should also remove any soiled terrain.

www.ebay.co.uk

They have not dissimilar reptibark in Pets at Home.

I put it on a coir base, I buy coir bricks from Pets at Home.

Google

www.google.co.uk

They make up a full large oblong washing bowl worth.

While you can do much cheaper in bulk by shopping around for plain fir bark with no additives, White bits such as vermiculite, compost and soil fertilisers longer term, to try and resolve a pet you have concern about I would stick to the bigger reptile brands if you are unsure.

I'm seeing a lot of people with tortoises eyes that don't open as they are using "full size" lighting in either small vivs where the bulbs are only 4-6 inches from the tortoises eyes or where they only have a 4ft x 18 inch commercial tortoise table which only have 3ft x 18 inch of uncovered space, especially when the bulb mount is on the 6 inch high wall and the tortoise is only 2 inches from the bulb which is then a coil shape (they look like the coil energy saving bulbs).


Have you got side mounted or overhead hung lights? And what sort of enclosure?

 

[Sineadsq]

Not okay. You need plain fine grade fir bark with no additives.

Thank you I did assume this was the case and left it in the shop. It does seem as though orchid bark isn’t as easy to get here in the UK in the garden stores

 

[Tom]

Thank you I did assume this was the case and left it in the shop. It does seem as though orchid bark isn’t as easy to get here in the UK in the garden stores

Outside of the west coast of the United States, many people have trouble finding it. People grow orchids all over the world, so it must be available elsewhere. I suspect the trick is finding it in bulk at a reasonable price. It is sold as "Reptile-Bark" from many of the normal pet outlets, and it comes in a bigger 24 quart sized bag.

 

[Sineadsq]

Outside of the west coast of the United States, many people have trouble finding it. People grow orchids all over the world, so it must be available elsewhere. I suspect the trick is finding it in bulk at a reasonable price. It is sold as "Reptile-Bark" from many of the normal pet outlets, and it comes in a bigger 24 quart sized bag.

Yes they seem to all have something mixed in with them here. For now I will get the stuff from the pet store and then I can see if it’s available elsewhere at a better price. Thanks again

 

[Sineadsq]

I use this stuff, comes in fine and is available next day Amazon Prime.

Komodo Forest Terrain Reptile Bark Substrate Snake Vivarium Flooring 6L 12L 24L | eBay

This substrate is great for Simple maintenance is required for this Forest Terrain, is it important for a daily spot clean to be taken place and whilst this is done you should also remove any soiled terrain.

www.ebay.co.uk

They have not dissimilar reptibark in Pets at Home.

I put it on a coir base, I buy coir bricks from Pets at Home.

Google

www.google.co.uk

They make up a full large oblong washing bowl worth.

While you can do much cheaper in bulk by shopping around for plain fir bark with no additives, White bits such as vermiculite, compost and soil fertilisers longer term, to try and resolve a pet you have concern about I would stick to the bigger reptile brands if you are unsure.

I'm seeing a lot of people with tortoises eyes that don't open as they are using "full size" lighting in either small vivs where the bulbs are only 4-6 inches from the tortoises eyes or where they only have a 4ft x 18 inch commercial tortoise table which only have 3ft x 18 inch of uncovered space, especially when the bulb mount is on the 6 inch high wall and the tortoise is only 2 inches from the bulb which is then a coil shape (they look like the coil energy saving bulbs).


Have you got side mounted or overhead hung lights? And what sort of enclosure?

Thank you for sending this over, I think on this occasion I will get it from the pet store then I can spend some time looking around for it possibly elsewhere.

He is currently in a tortoise table. However he will have a bigger outdoor enclosure in the summer. It’s not a coil type bulb. We have a 100w d3 uv basking light, which now I am questioning if this is correct.

The mount is screwed to the wall so does sit about 8-9inch above him.

 

[Tom]

Yes they seem to all have something mixed in with them here. For now I will get the stuff from the pet store and then I can see if it’s available elsewhere at a better price. Thanks again

Try searching instead for orchids, or orchid propagators, or orchid sellers, etc... There have got to be people in the UK with hot houses that dabble in orchids, and they have to be getting bulk orchid bark from somewhere.

 

[LJL1982]

Yes they seem to all have something mixed in with them here. For now I will get the stuff from the pet store and then I can see if it’s available elsewhere at a better price. Thanks again

It can be bought without additives or fertilisers/ chemicals in nearly every DIY store but in the UK is predominantly sold as path or play area or weed suppressor.

They are often marked as Play Safe or child safe and can be found in all the larger stores BUT the preferred size for those applications is a mix of 30-40mm so more like an average of 1.5inch.

Some are 10-40mm but they generally come big like 100 to 200 litre...its not like you are going to pick the little bits out.

I use the larger size Komodo forest terrain as I like that it flattens into almost crazy paving. BUT he's a tank and bonkers and can climb over a 15cm diameter log.

I use the same for my Radiated who has little dwtty legs and I put less in so it's more coir. I couldn't use much bigger with her really.

 

[LJL1982]

Thank you for sending this over, I think on this occasion I will get it from the pet store then I can spend some time looking around for it possibly elsewhere.

He is currently in a tortoise table. However he will have a bigger outdoor enclosure in the summer. It’s not a coil type bulb. We have a 100w d3 uv basking light, which now I am questioning if this is correct.

The mount is screwed to the wall so does sit about 8-9inch above him.

Many suppliers suggest no closer than 12 inches. Especially if side mounted (which is completely inappropriate) I'd say the lighting is the issue.

 

[Sineadsq]

Many suppliers suggest no closer than 12 inches. Especially if side mounted (which is completely inappropriate) I'd say the lighting is the issue.

I read between 9-12inch at 12 inches it doesn’t get warm enough so I lowered it?

In regards to the mounting I don’t really know how else I would mount? Any set up I’ve ever seen is with the light hanging from the top of the viv or table? Our bracket it’s attached to the wall with the light hanging above the table

 

[LJL1982]

I read between 9-12inch at 12 inches it doesn’t get warm enough so I lowered it?

In regards to the mounting I don’t really know how else I would mount? Any set up I’ve ever seen is with the light hanging from the top of the viv or table? Our bracket it’s attached to the wall with the light hanging above the table be nice to see photos of the enclosure

It's hard to say about the bulb without knowing which brand and model, you don't say if its a UVB or UVA or both?

 

[Mrs.Jennifer]

I read between 9-12inch at 12 inches it doesn’t get warm enough so I lowered it?

In regards to the mounting I don’t really know how else I would mount? Any set up I’ve ever seen is with the light hanging from the top of the viv or table? Our bracket it’s attached to the wall with the light hanging above the table

Do you have a photo of the setup you can share? It will be easier for people to give suggestions.

 

[LJL1982]

It's hard to say about the bulb without knowing which brand and model, you don't say if its a UVB or UVA or both?

@Sineadsq just saw it is a D3 so UVA and UVB combined. Think we talked about it higher up.

The only thing I would say on distance is some brands like ExoTerra say you can use closer, some like NeoRep say do not use closer than 12 inch for example, so depends on which bulb.

It will say which bulb it is on the bulb if you unscrew it.

Also hiw old is the bulb?

 

[Sineadsq]

It’s an Arcadia D3 bulb, this is our set up at the moment. (I know the water bowl is too small it’s temporary, my little girl broke the terracotta one we had) he has a soak every day for about 15 minutes in a separate bath too.